Asylum seekers are being turned away at ports of entry, Border Patrol says there's no room

Currently, about 56 families are waiting in Nogales to apply for asylum status. Most of the migrants are from Guerrero, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Arizona Republic

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Immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. stand along a fence after being turned away by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the border in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday, June 21, 2018.(Photo11: Casey Jackson/Caller-Times)Buy Photo

BROWNSVILLE, TX - Earlier this month, a group of five Honduran families who fled their home country were not allowed to step on U.S. soil to seek asylum.

The process requires the asylum seeker to be physically present in the U.S.

Two women whose husbands had been killed in Honduras, one who fled with her toddler and the other with her two boys, 6- and 8-years-old; a man who had been kidnapped with his young son in Reynosa after traveling from Honduras via train; a mother who fled her abusive husband with her young son; and a man who fled with his two young girls because of gang violence.

All were sheltered for up to two weeks at Casa Migrante -- a shelter for migrants in Matamoros, Mexico that’s operated by the San Juan Diego Diocese of Matamoros -- after being rejected repeatedly at the international bridge in Brownsville, said Juan Antonio Sierra Vargas with the diocese.

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The Diocesis de Matamoros organization in Matamoros, Mexico on Thursday, June 21, 2018. (Photo11: Casey Jackson/Caller-Times)

They were eventually allowed in but took dozens of attempts. Those who don’t have anywhere to go after being denied entry line up inches from the U.S. boundary line where Customs and Border Patrol agents are now stationed.

At the international bridge between Arizona and Nogales, Sonora, the area has begun to resemble a makeshift refugee camp, according to reports. Over the past month, asylum seekers camped out at the port of entry have become a common sight.

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Border Patrol agents take a group of migrant families to a safer place to be transported after intercepting them near McAllen, Texas, on June 19, 2018.
More than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents at the border as a result of the Trump administration's new "zero tolerance" policy, creating a deepening crisis for the government on how to care for the children. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times via USA TODAY NETWORK

Lester Morales, 27, from Guatemala and his 3-year-old son, José Fernando wait to be transported to a processing center by U.S. Border Patrol after being found near McAllen, Texas. Hundreds of immigrant parents like Morales are crossing into the U.S. without proper authorization unaware that the process to seek asylum now also includes temporary loss of their children. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times via USA TODAY NETWORK

Analisa Lopez, 20, and her son Jorge, 3, from Honduras walk to a bus that will bring them to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after being found near McAllen, Texas.
Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection pick up the immigrants as they cross into the U.S. then bus them to a nearby processing center where parents are typically separated from their kids while the adults face federal misdemeanor charges for entering the U.S. improperly. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times via USA TODAY NETWORK

Border Patrol Agent Marcelino Medina stands in a cornfield and is given direction from a helicopter above as he tries to cut off an unauthorized entrant in Mission, Texas. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times via USA TODAY NETWORK

A migrant is patted down as families from Honduras and Guatemala wait to be taken to a processing center by U.S. Border Patrol after being found near McAllen, Texas. Courtney Sacco, Caller-Times via USA TODAY NETWORK

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Maier said ports of entry periodically reach capacity from time to time because they “were not designed to hold hundreds of people at a time who may be seeking asylum.”

“No one is being denied the opportunity to make a claim of credible fear or seek asylum,” Maier said. “CBP officers allow more people into our facilities for processing once space becomes available or other factors allow for additional parties to arrive.”

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Deported migrants wait to receive help from the Diocesis de Matamoros organization at a bus station in Matamoros, Mexico on Thursday, June 21, 2018. (Photo11: Casey Jackson/Caller-Times)

Maier said the agency has had to limit the number of people they can take in for processing at a given time.

"We expect that this will be a temporary situation," he said.

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Immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. are turned away by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the border in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday, June 21, 2018.(Photo11: Casey Jackson/Caller-Times)

On a hot Thursday afternoon, a couple carrying several bags of clothes and a rolling suitcase could be seen pleading to agents to allow them past the makeshift blockade.

The distraught man argued with agents for a span of about 10 minutes until the manager on duty was called over.

“We don’t have space for you to sit," the agent said repeated to the couple. "You can go and come back.”